From November 2014 until October 2016 the CertifHy project 1 identified a framework for the first EU-wide GO for Premium Hydrogen including a definition for green and low-carbon hydrogen, a detailed proposal for a GO system and a roadmap for implementation. The project was funded by FCU JU, the public-private partnership that manages H2020 funds allocated to hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. The project was coordinated by Hinicio, with the Dutch Energy Research Center ECN, TÜV SÜD and Ludwig Bölkow Systemtechnik as consortium partners. A large variety of global players support it as affiliated partners such as Air Liquide, Air Products, AkzoNobel, Areva H2Gen, BMW, Colruyt Group, EDF, Group Machiels, Hydrogenics, Linde, OMV, Shell, Total and Uniper that were part of the on-going step-by-step consulting process throughout two years. “CertifHy is a promising project with good support from the industry”. Bart Biebuyck, the executive director of FCH JU

Achievements

Definition of green & low carbon hydrogen Today, over 95% of all hydrogen is generated from fossil fuels, in CO2-intensive processes. Premium Hydrogen is hydrogen produced with low carbon emissions and includes CertifHy Green Hydrogen and CertifHy Low Carbon Hydrogen. CertifHy Green Hydrogen refers to hydrogen generated by renewable energy with carbon emissions 60% below the benchmark emissions intensity threshold (= GHG emissions of the hydrogen produced by steam reforming of natural gas representing 95% of current merchant market). CertifHy Low Carbon Hydrogen is hydrogen created by non-renewable energy with emissions below the same threshold.

The definition of Green and Low carbon Hydrogen

1st GO scheme

A Guarantee of Origin (GO) labels the origin of a product and provides information to customers on the source of their products. It operates as a tracking system ensuring the quality of a product such as hydrogen or electricity. The proposed Premium Hydrogen GO system, similar to the existing green electricity GO scheme, decouples the green attribute from the physical flow of the product and makes Premium Hydrogen available EU-wide, independently from its production sites (see graphs below). The GO scheme for Premium Hydrogen includes the GO governance; eligibility and registration of production plants; the GO and information content; issuance, transferability and cancellation; the registry system and trading platform.